Follow my postings - just leave your email

Sunday, 13 January 2013

My uncle’s Gold Mine and the Milwaukee Journal (1933). A real live Heir Hunter. Part Two

Well, things have moved on from then. We (my cousin and I) have discovered that
the guy who passed away was our great uncle – the brother of our maternal
great-grandfather – who died intestate and childless. Also the wives of the two
brothers were sisters.It saddens me deeply
that my great uncle passed away, alone, twenty-three years ago and that no-one
was with him. No one in the family even knew of his existence

Of course we dispensed with the services
of the Heir Hunter after we found out these details and we ourselves began to
find out more about our great uncle. And what a story unfolded – and is still
unfolding! James Osenton, which is who he was, was an adventurer
extraordinaire!

He is on the passenger lists
of ships en-route from Africa and New Zealand in the 1920s and my cousin hit
the jackpot and found him mentioned in the Milwaukee Journal of June 18th
1933 under the headline, ‘Starves in the Jungle to Guard Gold Mine’!

From the Milwaukee Journal

The sub-headline gets even better: ‘Young
Wisconson Scientist Discovers White Hermit in British Guiana, Living on Cassava
and Water, While He Jealously Protects Fortune Which He Lack the Money to Seize’.
This “White Hermit” was my uncle – James Osenton - and he was protecting his goldmine!

This all might be a bit Livingstone/Stanley-esque
but I’ll keep you posted - and I'll also keep you posted on how much the estate might be worth!